Big Brother Ko
by RynUhara
Summary: Inspector Tsunemori Akane and Enforcer Kogami Shinya find themselves assigned to take care of a 5 year old little boy after his mother is murdered. In order to find his mother's killer, Kogami agrees to take in the little boy until his memory of the murder returns. But there is only one condition to that... They both must move in with Inspector Tsunemori. (Shinkane)
1. Chapter 1

"Good, you're here." Ginoza said to Akane when she reached the scene of a crime.

"Sorry I'm late. I had a meeting with the director. What do we got?"

"28 year old female identified as Konizuka Tatsuki. She was stabbed from behind." He said, indicating the body of a woman lying on the ground. "The suspect got away. The woman had her son with her when she was attacked."

"Where is the son now?" Akane asked.

Ginoza nodded towards the paddy wagon, where Kogami was playing with a little boy.

"How old is he?"

"He always says he's 28, but with the way he's carrying himself, he looks 12." Kagari joked.

"Very funny." Akane rolled her eyes. "I was talking about the kid."

"He's almost 5." Masaoka said with a frown. "His info says that his birthday is this Saturday."

"Where's his dad?"

"He apparently committed suicide shortly after he was born. That kid has no one."

Akane watched Kogami and the boy, sadly. He was riding on top of the enforcer's shoulders, pointing in different directions for him to go. Kogami would pretend to get confused, causing the boy to laugh.

"Who could have thought that Ko was good with kids." Kagari said in amazement.

"He does look like he's a natural." Masaoka chuckled.

"Alright. Alright." Ginoza said, getting annoyed by their idleness. "Let's gather the rest of the evidence and get out of this place."

They finished up at the crime scene and headed back to the PSB. The boy never left Kogami's side.

"Inspector Tsunemori, I want you to question the son of the victim." Ginoza said when they got back to their office.

"Yes sir." Akane nodded.

"Kogami should already be in the special interrogation room that we have reserved for kids."

"Okay, I'll head over there right now."

Akane left the office, going over the questions she had to ask in her head.

She had never been good with kids. Even when she was a kid, she never really interacted with anyone except her two friends.

A few moments later, she had made it in to the interrogation room. She looked through the one way window, and saw Kogami and the little boy drawing each other on a piece of paper.

Akane took a deep breath and walked in.

"Hello." Akane said, giving them a small wave.

"Big brother Ko, who is that lady?" The little boy whispered loudly to the enforcer.

"This is Inspector Tsunemori. She has some questions for you." Kogami explained.

"But I don't want to talk to her." The child whined.

"Please? If you'll be a big boy, I'll get you some ice cream later." Kogami bribed.

"Are you gonna stay?"

"Of course." Akane said with a smile as she sat in front of him and Kogami.

"All right… I guess I'll talk to you."

The little boy continued to draw on the paper, refusing to look up at Akane.

"So…" Akane awkwardly started. "What is your name?"

"Konizuka Hiro."

"What would you like me to call you?"

"My mommy calls me Ko." The boy answered. "Just like how big brother Ko is Ko."

"So do you want me to call you Ko?"

"No, call me Hiro." The little boy said, putting the crayon he had in his hand to the side and picked up a new color.

Akane looked up at Kogami, who smirked back at her. He was definitely amused by this.

"Okay, Hiro. Do you remember anything that happened earlier today?"

The little boy stopped coloring and put his crayon down. He stared at the paper for a long time, then showed it to Kogami.

"Look, big brother Ko! I drew you!" He beamed.

"That looks great, buddy." Kogami praised him. "But can you please answer the inspector's questions?"

Hiro frowned and put down his drawing. "I don't want ice cream anymore. Can we just go, now? My mommy misses me."

Akane and Kogami gave each other a glance when he said this.

"We talked about this Ko." Kogami said, looking in to the boy's eyes. "Your mommy won't be able to see you anymore, remember?"

"Yes she will." Hiro said. "Mommy always comes to get me."

Kogami frowned. The boy was in denial of his mother's death.

"Hiro, your mommy died." Akane explained, trying to sound gentle.

"No she didn't." The boy glared at Akane. "Stop lying. Big brother Ko, make her go away."

Akane looked to Kogami, feeling helpless.

"Inspector Tsunemori, should we talk outside?"

Akane nodded, and the two adults got up and went to the other side of the room.

"What should I do? I've never questioned a child before." Akane whispered.

"It doesn't take a pro to see that." Kogami sighed. "And to pile it on your plate, the kid has developed a defense mechanism in his brain to avoid the truth at hand."

"He has been through pretty traumatic things today." Akane said, looking over her shoulder at him. "I'm going to ask Inspector Ginoza if we can wait a couple of days until we try to question him again."

"That's a good idea and all, but he needs to be processed through the system as an orphan. He has nowhere to go but the local orphanage."

"No, we can't let them make him go to a home." Akane snapped. "That's the last thing he needs."

"Well, what do you suggest we do, Inspector? That's protocol. But then again, you're not one to strictly follow protocol, are you?" Kogami smirked.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you are the only person he trusts right now. Are you really going to let him just go to a strange place? It's almost his birthday, and I don't think he deserves to go through more than what he already has."

"I can't do anything. I'm an enforcer, remember?"

"Just… Let me talk to Inspector Ginoza, okay?"

—-

"So you had no luck at all?" Ginoza sighed. "I guess it's to be expected with all of the events he went through."

"If I may, can I make a suggestion?" Akane asked.

"What is it?"

"Hiro seems to get along really well with Enforcer Kogami. I think we should let Hiro stay with him until we get him to answer our questions. I think if we go about it that way, he will open up more to Kogami and we can do it with out endangering his psycho pass's hue."

"Denied." Ginoza flatly said. "The PSB is no place for a child. We are not babysitters."

"He doesn't have to stay at the bureau." Akane said.

"Where else do you suggest that he can stay with Enforcer Kogami being constantly monitored?" Her partner asked. "The only way that can happen is if they went home with an inspector from our division, and I withdraw my name from the suggestion box."

Akane looked down. She knew what it would look like if her and Kogami stayed in her small apartment with the little boy, and all of the rumors that would go along with it. But she also knew that Hiro couldn't leave Kogami's side for now.

"I'll take them in." She said, looking up at Ginoza with determination.

"Fine." Her partner said. "But only until we get what we need from the kid."

"Yes sir." Akane nodded.

"Until then, you will be kept away from any other case. Is that understood? We can't have Kogami and the boy left unattended ever in case he tries to leave."

"I understand."

"Good." Ginoza nodded. "Now go tell Enforcer Kogami to pack up. As of now, you're both on brat duty."


	2. Chapter 2

"You got him to what?" Kogami was staring in disbelief at his superior.

"You and Hiro will be staying with me at my place until we can successfully get the information we need from him."

"I'm an enforcer, not a babysitter." He whispered to Akane, not wanting the little boy who was napping on his couch to hear. "I take out criminals."

"Please, Kogami. He can't be put in an orphanage yet." The inspector pleaded. "You're the only one who he seems to get along with."

Kogami shook his head and sighed. She didn't realize what she was asking of him.

"Besides. This may be the only way we can get to the man who killed his mother." She reminded him. "If he can give us some sort of description after a few days, that makes our chances better when it comes to catching him."

Kogami looked sadly at the small boy who was peacefully sleeping. He knew that Akane was right, but he was unsure about the circumstances that would put them in.

"It will be a tight fit, but it will work out. I want to do this for him. Please." Akane begged.

Kogami looked down, feeling his chest tighten when he saw the look she had in her eyes. How could he say no?

"Fine." He sighed. "Let me pack a few things."

"Thank you!" Akane squealed, hugging Kogami out of impulse. She quickly let go and stepped away, a blush forming on her cheeks.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Kogami said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm just going to go and grab my stuff, now."

Kogami left Akane standing in the middle of his living room, while he retreated to his bedroom.

Akane sighed and sat next to the sleeping boy.

He looked so innocent. It was hard to believe that he had just witnessed his mother's murder.

She ran her fingers through his thick brown hair, causing him to curl against her leg.

"I love you, mommy." He whispered in his sleep.

Akane put her hand over her mouth, muffling her gasp. Tears threatened to form, but she held them back and continued to comfort the little boy.

"Your mommy would be so proud of you, Ko."

Kogami stood in his doorway, unnoticed by his superior, his heart silently hurting for the child.

—-

"Here we are." Akane said as she opened her door for Hiro and Kogami.

"Welcome home, Akane!" Candy greeted. "I see you have brought some guests. Can I scan you for my memory files?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Kogami said, holding his arms out to his side while a green light scanned him up and down.

"You are Kogami Shinya. Your psycho pass is currently 174. Due to your occupation as an enforcer, the Public Safety Bureau will not need to be notified."

"Woah!" Hiro grinned. "Me next!"

The green light then scanned over the small boy.

"Your name is Konizuka Hiro! Your psycho pass is currently 56. That is high for someone your age. You should talk to a parent or guardian about how you feel."

"Aww." Hiro looked down.

"It's okay. It will go back down, soon, buddy." Kogami reassured him.

"It's not that. I want to make mine high like yours, big brother Ko. I wanna be an enforcer, too."

"No, you don't. Trust me." Kogami said, ruffling his hair. "I'd want to make mine like Inspector Tsunemori's if I were you."

"Really?" Hiro wrinkles his nose, looking at Akane. "Why?"

"Tsunemori Akane's psycho pass is always in excellent shape." Candy praised her owner. "Today it is 27."

"That's not a lot."

"That's why she's such an awesome inspector." Kogami said with a grin.

Akane blushed at the enforcer's compliment. Did he really think that highly of her?

"So, are either of you hungry?"

"Yeah, I could go for some food."

"I could go for some food, too." Hiro mocked Kogami.

"Okay, what would you like?"

"Cake." Hiro flatly answered.

"Cake isn't good to have for dinner, Hiro. How about some curry?"

Hiro wrinkled his nose. "Mommy doesn't let me eat meat. She says it's bad for me."

"Seriously?" Kogami raised his eyebrow. "How do you live?"

"I like tofu." The small boy stated. "And lots of vegetables."

"How are you normal?" The enforcer asked in amazement.

"I suggest a hot pot with mushrooms and tofu." Candy piped up.

"Yes!" Hiro grinned. "Please, big brother Ko?"

"Ask Inspector Tsunemori. This is her house, remember?"

Hiro rolled his eyes and turned to Akane.

"Can we please have that?"

"Sure." Akane smiled. "Candy will get right on it."

"You're not gonna cook it?" The little boy asked. "My mommy always cooks our food. She says that machines lose the special ingredient."

"And just what is that?" Akane asked.

Hiro put his hands together in the shape of a heart. "Love." He grinned.

"I can give it a try if you would like." Kogami suggested.

"I wanna help!" Hiro exclaimed.

"We could try it together." Kogami said looking at his superior.

"Sure." Akane nodded. "Why not?"

A few moments later, after Kogami and Hiro put their things away, they were all snuggly fit in Akane's kitchen with all of the needed ingredients spread out in front of them.

"Okay, so the first thing the recipe says that we have to do is bring the stock, mushroom stems, ginger, and garlic to a simmer. We have to let it cook for thirty minutes." Akane read off of her tablet.

"That sounds easy enough." Kogami said, putting the ingredients in to the pot.

"Ugh." Hiro groaned. "It's going to take a long time."

"No it won't, buddy." Kogami said.

"I have an idea. Why don't we take a look at some toys? You like to play with toys, right?" Akane asked.

"No. I only like my robot." Hiro said. "Mommy always reads books to me, though. Do you like to read, big brother Ko?"

"Are you kidding?" Kogami smirked. "I love to read."

"What's your favorite book?"

"The Long Walk by Stephen King. What about you?"

"Mommy just started telling me stories about Maximum Ride."

"James Patterson was a pretty great author." Akane smiled. "I have a couple of his books."

"I wanna know more about Max." Hiro said. "Her and her friends have wings."

"Do you have one of those books?" Kogami asked Akane.

"I can look. My grandmother sent me some old ones. I could get it on my tablet if I don't."

"Can you?" Hiro's face brightened up.

"I'll go look while you and Kogami keep an eye on dinner, okay?"

"Okay!" The boy beamed.

Akane squeezed past Kogami, accidentally brushing her hand across his chest in the process.

"I-I'm sorry." She stuttered and quickly left the room before he saw the redness of her face.

—-

A couple of hours later, after the three had filled up on dinner, they all sat on Akane's couch looking at the blue book in Akane's hand.

"That's the one!" Hiro squealed. "That's the book my mommy read to me."

"Where do you want to start?" Akane asked.

"Can we start from the beginning?"

"Sure." Akane smiled.

"Will you read, big brother Ko?" Hiro asked, looking up at the enforcer that was holding him on his knee.

"Uh. Sure." Kogami agreed, taking the book that was held out to him.

Hiro rested against his chest, content with Kogami's answer.

Akane pulled her knees to her chest and listened to the story from the opposite end of the couch.

"Warning: If you dare read this story, you become part of the Experiment. I know that sounds mysterious— but it's all I can say right now. Max."

Kogami read the book aloud as Akane and Hiro listened closely. He gave the characters personality and made sure to keep the attention of the small boy.

After a while, he noticed that Hiro had gone still. He was sleeping soundly against the enforcer's chest.

Kogami looked up at Akane, handing her the book.

She silently motioned for him to follow her to her bedroom, so they could put the child to bed.

Kogami put the sleeping boy on the pillow and Akane covered him with a blanket. They silently told him their goodnights, and went back to the living room.

"I can't help but wonder if this is what parents feel like." Kogami said, stretching as he walked in to the other room.

"I know what you mean." Akane said, going to the kitchen to clean up.

"Here, let me help." Kogami said, reaching from behind her, causing Akane to drop a knife and cut her hand.

"Oww." She said, quickly pulling her bleeding hand against her.

"Let me take a look."

Akane shook her head. "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"Let me see it." Kogami said again, this time with a much more stern tone.

Akane hesitantly opened her hand so that the enforcer could take a look.

"It's not very deep." He said. "Here, put some pressure on it by squeezing this." He handed her a rag.

"Where is your first aid kit?"

"Bathroom." She said as he lead her to the couch to sit.

He came back a few minutes later with a plastic box.

Kogami knelt down next to Akane motioning for her to give him her hand.

"It's going to sting a little." He said before spraying the cut with an antiseptic.

Akane winced.

Kogami took her hand and blew air on the cut.

The inspector felt her cheeks heat up when she saw how attentive and gentle he was being with her.

After a few moments, Kogami stood up and put the box back in the bathroom.

"I'm going to finish these for you." The enforcer said as he emptied the sink of the contaminated water.

"Thank you." Akane said, feeling embarrassed by her clumsiness.

After he finished putting the dishes away, he and Akane went outside on her balcony so he could smoke.

"You have a good heart, Inspector." Kogami said, breaking the silence. "I don't know anyone else that would offer to put up with an enforcer and some kid for an unknown amount of time in their own home."

"My grandmother always says that I should show kindness, because I will never know when I'll need it in return."

"Your grandmother sounds like a smart woman. I'd like to meet her sometime."

"I think she'd like you." Akane said with a smile. "She's really old fashioned, and a fan of Stephen King's, too. She could go on for hours about his books."

"Then I would definitely like to meet her." Kogami chuckled.

He put his cigarette out and turned to Akane.

"I mean it. What you're doing here is a good thing." He ruffled her hair as he walked past her back in to her apartment.

"And don't worry about sleeping on the floor tonight."

"But, Kogami I-"

"I'll be fine." He assured her. "Goodnight, Inspector."

"Wait." She stopped him.

He turned and saw her give him a small smile.

"Please call me Akane."

He nodded and returned the smile.

"Goodnight… Akane."


	3. Chapter 3

Kogami was up early as usual, while Akane and Hiro were still sleeping. He looked at the clock next to Akane's bed, which read 4:38 AM.

The enforcer sat up from his spot on the ground and stretched. He was aching for a cigarette.

He quietly stood up and went outside to Akane's balcony, making sure not to wake her or the little boy.

Kogami lit a cigarette and took a drag. He was savoring the feeling of the fresh air on his chest when he heard movement in the doorway.

"You're up early." Akane yawned, coming out and rubbing her eyes.

"I don't sleep much." Kogami shrugged. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah, but it's okay."

Kogami glanced over at his superior, caught off guard by the lack of clothing she wore. He began choking on the smoke he had just inhaled.

"Are you okay?" Akane asked, worriedly watching the enforcer gasping for air.

"Yeah." He coughed. "You just startled me is all."

"Sorry about that." Akane apologized, suddenly becoming self conscious.

"Don't worry about it." Kogami said, looking away from her, trying to keep his embarrassment from showing.

"Are you sure that you slept okay?" Akane asked, hoping to break through the awkward.

"Yeah." Kogami nodded. "I don't mind it at all."

"So… Would you like some coffee?"

"Yeah, sure."

A few moments later, they were sitting at Akane's table, each sipping on their own cups of the bitter liquid.

"Did Hiro seem to be sleeping okay?"

"Yeah." Kogami answered. "The kid didn't even seem like he was having nightmares. It's weird that he's been taking everything that happened with his mother so well."

"I think you're a big part in that." Akane told him. "You're so good with him, it makes me envious."

"Don't worry, I'm sure your maternal instinct will kick in soon." Kogami joked.

"Very funny." Akane rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure that will ever happen."

"Why? Don't you wanna be a mom some day?"

Akane shrugged. "I never really thought about it. Marriage and children… I just don't think that's for me."

"I see." Kogami nodded as he took a drink of his coffee.

"What about you? Have you ever wanted to become a father, Kogami?"

The enforcer rubbed the back of his neck.

"I used to, but as a latent criminal, the right of marriage was taken away from me."

"Oh. I'm so sorry." Akane said. "And here I am saying that I don't think marriage is for me. That is so uncaring of me."

"Don't worry about it." Kogami said. "You're just barely getting your roots in the ground, so it's understandable for you to feel like you do."

Akane took a drink of her coffee, looking away from Kogami's eyes. She really did feel like the worst.

"You drink coffee when you're nervous, don't you?" The enforcer chuckled.

"No." Akane sputtered. "Why would you say that?"

"Just an observation." He smirked.

"You're teasing me, aren't you mister Kogami?" Akane puffed her cheeks out in a pouting manner.

"Never." He chuckled.

"That's not very ni-"

"Big brother Ko." A small and groggy voice interrupted.

"Sorry, Hiro. Did we wake you?"

Hiro quietly walked to Kogami and climbed in his lap.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"My mommy is going to come and get me soon, right?" The child asked.

Kogami and Akane glanced at each other.

"We talked about this." Kogami sighed. "Your mommy can't come and get you."

Hiro clutched on to the enforcer's shirt and began to cry.

"I'm sorry, buddy." Kogami whispered, stroking his back, trying to comfort the child.

Akane watched from the other side of the table, hurting so much for him.

She could never imagine losing her mom at 20, let alone at almost 5 years old.

—-

Later that morning, after Kogami had gotten Hiro to calm down so that they all could eat breakfast, they went back to the PSB.

"Good morning." Kagari greeted when they got off of the elevator. "How's the family life treating you?"

Kogami glared at his fellow enforcer, while Akane put her finger to her lips and shushed him.

"We're a family?" Hiro asked, wrinkling his nose at Akane.

"Relax. Relax. I was just kidding." Their colleague put his hands up in defense.

"Whatever. Is Ginoza round?" Kogami asked.

"Nah. He took Masaoka to track down who was causing a nearby area's stress level to rise."

"Did he leave the keys to Ms. Konizuka's apartment?"

"Yeah. I'm supposed to go with you guys for added protection in case the attacker is hiding out around there."

Hiro's eyes got huge when he heard this.

"Kagari!" Kogami glared at the guy, who had covered his mouth when he realized what he had done.

"Sorry, Ko. I wasn't thinking."

"Obviously." He said as he knelt down to get on even terms with the little boy.

"Is it true? Will the man who killed my mommy be there?"

"There is a possibility." Kogami told him, honestly. "But we will keep you safe. I promise."

Hiro nodded and sniffed.

"Now, we're going to go to your apartment and get some of your stuff." Akane explained. "The rest of your things we can't get will be taken to a special room here."

"We're only going to get what you really need, though. Inspector Tsunemori doesn't have much more room we can take up. Okay, buddy?"

"Okay."

"I'll request permission to carry Dominators while we are out."

"Sounds good." Kogami said, standing back to his feet.

"What is a Dominator?" Hiro asked.

"It's what we use to catch the bad guys." Kagari winked.

"Wow… I wanna see you use it, big brother Ko!"

"No, you don't. Trust me on that, kid." Kogami said as a drone carrying the Dominators came by and opened up for the three adults.

They each took a Dominator and concealed them so that they wouldn't be noticed by the public on the streets.

—-

"So, have you and Ko gotten to have any alone time?" Kagari asked Akane as they went upstairs to Hiro's old home.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know…" He nudged her with his elbow.

Akane's face heated up when she realized what the enforcer was talking about.

"I-It's nothing like that!"

"Come on, I see the way you watch him with the kid. Makes you wanna jump him, right?" He winked. "Have one of your own…?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Akane said as they were nearing the door to the apartment. "I don't look at Mister Kogami any different from the way I look at you."

"Or so you say." Kagari smirked as she brushed past him.

Kogami was about to open the door, but stopped suddenly. He turned and gave Kagari and Akane a signal to be quiet.

The three adults took out their weapons, Akane and Kogami covering Kagari as he pulled Hiro back to keep him safe.

Kogami quickly opened the door and pointed his Dominator around the apartment.

"Arf!"

He looked down and saw a red shiba inu excitedly wagging its tail while he watched him.

"Tadashi!" Hiro squealed and ran inside to greet the dog.

"Hiro, you never said you had a dog." Kogami said, lowering his gun.

"Because you never asked, big brother Ko." The little boy said as if it were just plain common sense.

The little boy cuddled the dog tight. "I missed you."

Akane came to his side and pat the dog on his head. "I bet you're hungry, huh?"

"Hiro, why don't you go feed Tadashi with Inspector Tsunemori. Me and Enforcer Kagari will go and get your stuff, okay?"

Hiro gave an exasperated sigh. "Why not you, big brother Ko?"

"You didn't know this, but she's an expert at dog whispering." Kagari said, giving Akane a knowing smirk.

"What's that?"

"She knows how to talk to dogs. You know… Get them to swoon for her. She's especially good with wolves."

Kogami glared at Kagari, knowing very well what the meaning his words held was.

"Let's go, Kagari." He growled, dragging his friend by the ear to another room.

"Come on, Tadashi, let's get you some food!" Hiro said, leading Akane and the dog to the small kitchen.

"What the hell, Kagari?" Kogami glared at the enforcer when they got out of earshot.

"What did I do?"

"'Especially wolves'?"

Kagari snickered. "Well, I'm right."

"There is nothing going on between me and Inspector Tsunemori." Kogami said as he opened up a backpack to put Hiro's things in.

Kagari rolled his eyes and started looking through draws and containers.

"Besides. She's an inspector, and I'm an enforcer." Kogami sighed as he put Hiro's little toy robot in the pack. "It could never happen."

—-

After packing the necessary things, they all went back to the PSB to get updates on the case.

Kogami took Hiro to look around the PSB to keep him busy while the rest of Division One went over what they had gathered.

"There weren't any street scanners nearby, so we don't have any idea who our suspect could be." Ginoza said, displaying the file on a screen as he spoke. "Until we get information from the kid, we have nowhere to look except in Ms. Konizuka's personal life."

"The victim was a system programmer with VaroTech. 28 years of age and single as far as anyone at her work knew." Masaoka started off relaying the information that they had found.

"Her son is the only one that she ever interacted with outside of work. Her parents are dead, she had no siblings, and her ex husband's family cut her off after he committed suicide. Her emails and phone records didn't show anything out of the ordinary. She looks like a typical single mom."

"Tsunemori, have you or Kogami gotten anywhere with the kid on anything?" Ginoza asked.

"No." Akane hung her head. "I honestly think he needs to start therapy. His mind is starting to let him realize that his mother is dead, which is stressing his psycho pass. When he realizes that she died in front of him, I think it will cloud it up even more."

"You're right." Ginoza nodded, thinking of a solution.

"I'll get clearance for him to see one of our specialists. You and Kogami will have to be responsible in taking him to the sessions."

"Yes sir." Akane nodded.

"Me, Kagari and Masaoka are going to keep digging things up that we can. Kunizuka will be working with Karanomori on looking through her work to see if there is something hidden there.

"What else would you like Kogami and me to do?" Akane asked.

Ginoza looked at Akane with all sincerity.

"There is one thing."

"What?"

"Give the woman a funeral, so her son can say goodbye."


	4. Chapter 4

Akane sat at her table later that night while Kogami put Hiro to sleep. She had dozens of flower arrangement options and different GIFs that Karanomori had sent her of the child's mother displayed on her tablet.

She groaned in frustration and rested her head on the table.

"Want some help?" Kogami asked, pulling up a seat next to her.

"I always thought that when I would be picking out flower arrangements, it would be for a totally different purpose. I don't even know what flowers are appropriate for funerals." Akane sighed.

"Well, let's see…" Kogami took the tablet and looked at it carefully. Different smiling versions of Hiro's mother looked back at him amongst the pictures of the flowers.

"I think pink carnations would be appropriate." He said after careful consideration. "They represent the love of a mother, and with the way Hiro talks about her, I think that speaks who she was loud and clear."

"I didn't know you knew anything about flowers."

"In the words of Hiro, it's because you didn't ask." Kogami chuckled.

"This funeral is going to probably make things real for him."

"Yeah." Kogami sighed. "I know."

"His psycho pass was at a 63 today. It's going up more every day."

"He'll start therapy after tomorrow. Everything will stabilize after he gets the treatment he needs." Kogami reassured her.

"If he doesn't… He'll be treated like a criminal."

"I know that." The enforcer frowned. "Better than anyone else."

He rested his hand on Akane's shoulder.

"But we won't let that happen. That's why we're doing this in the first place."

"Yeah." Akane nodded. "You're right."  
—-

The funeral for Konizuka Tatsuki was scheduled for the afternoon of the next day. Kogami and Akane had arranged everything that was needed, and they and the rest of Division One gathered to send her off peacefully from the life she had lived.

The casket had been open when Kogami and Akane brought Hiro in. The little boy let go of the enforcer's hand and ran to the white encasing his mother was in.

"Mommy!" He tried to reach up to the opening. "Wake up! Wake up! We have to go home and we can play with Tadashi."

Kogami knelt down on his knee and whispered in Hiro's ear.

"Buddy, she's not sleeping. You know that."

"But she looks it." He cried. "Make her wake up, big brother Ko! I'll be good, I promise!"

Akane ran and hugged the crying child. "You are a good boy, Hiro. This isn't your fault."

The boy continued to sob in her shoulder.

Akane looked up to Kogami, who had reached over and shut the lid of the casket.

He stood back and placed his hand on Hiro's shoulder to help Akane comfort him.

—-

Hiro refused to look up the whole duration of the funeral. When it was time to leave, Kogami had to pry him away from the casket.

They brought him back to Akane's apartment to let him spend the rest of the day to calm down.

"Hiro, just breathe, okay." Akane tried to show him how to do breathing exercises, but he would not listen.

"No!" Hiro yelled, throwing his robot at Akane. "I hate you! I want to die like my mommy did!"

Kogami grabbed the toy before it hit the inspector, then grabbed Hiro and held him in a tight embrace.

"Let me go! Let me go!" He screamed, trying to force his way out. Kogami was a lot stronger, though.

Hiro was behaving like a total different child. It kind of scared Akane that he was capable of doing some of the things he had been doing since the funeral ended.

When they first got in the car to get back to the apartment, he had started to slam his head on the door, so Kogami had to sit with him the whole way back.

Kogami was also forced to knock Akane's bathroom door in when Hiro locked himself inside after telling them that he needed to use the bathroom.

He had become self-distructive, and his psycho pass was definitely taking a toll because of it.

"We're going to have to take him to the hospital if things keep going like this." Kogami said when Hiro finally passed out from exhaustion.

"I think we should wait on that." Akane said. "Hospitals would just make things worse right now."

"I guess you're right." He sighed and sat on the couch.

He looked like a wreck. They both did.

"I can't imagine what he must be going through." Akane said, holding out a cup of coffee for Kogami.

"Well, he has no one left in this world. His dad's dead, his mom is dead and the rest of the family is either in the same shape or cut him off along with his mother." He frowned. "No kid should go through all of that."

Akane sat on the opposite end of the couch. "I know it's overstepping my boundaries… But what was your life like as a child?"

The enforcer looked at her, caught off guard by her sudden question.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make it sound awkward or anything. I was just curious is all."

"You really need to stop apologizing when we talk about stuff, you know." Kogami chuckled. "I don't mind answering your questions, Inspector."

"So-" Akane stopped herself when the enforcer gave her a look. "Okay."

"I was born in Kanagawa. Had a pretty normal childhood. Man, I was such a mama's boy back then." He chuckled as he thought about it.

"Me and my old man never really have gotten along. He was always gone on business trips and such when I was growing up. I always did my best to try and piss him off some way or another when he would come home."

"What is your mom like?" Akane asked.

"She was always really supportive of the decisions I have made. Even when I was demoted to enforcer, she treated it as if it wasn't a big deal at all. She sometimes comes to the Bureau to visit. She shows Kagari a thing or two in the kitchen."

"Amazing." Akane gaped at her subordinate.

"What about you, Inspector? How was your childhood?"

"It wasn't anything special growing up. I was born in Chiba, and I always stayed with my grandmother. My mom is a nurse, and my dad a hospital administrator. It was expected that I would take the medical route, too, so when I told my family that I was going to go in to criminal investigations, it wasn't taken very well."

"I see." Kogami nodded. "So why become an inspector of all things?"

"I thought it would be the most challenging and unpredictable thing I could ever do." Akane answered. "It's not the same thing every day, and I believe that protecting the law is the best way to protect others."

"I see." Kogami nodded.

Quiet whimpers started to come from Akane's bedroom. The two adults quietly stood up and peeked inside.

Hiro was clutching on to his robot as he slept. He must have been having a bad dream because tears were staining his round cheeks.

"I want to track down his father's family." Kogami suddenly spoke.

"You what?" Akane hissed. "But they cut his mother off when his father died."

"Akane, he has living family out there somewhere." The enforcer said, turning around to look at her. "I'm not going to give up on giving him what's best. You even said that an orphanage will do him no good. So let's do it. Let's find his family."

Akane stared up at the enforcer, completely perplexed by his sudden change. He had even called her by her first name!

There was something on the inside of her that knew she could never say no to something he was set on doing, so she gave him a nod of approval.

"Yes, let's do it."


	5. Chapter 5

"So, Hiro, how do you like living with Enforcer Kogami and Inspector Akane."

"They're okay. I wanna go back home with my mommy and Tadashi, though."

Kogami and Akane were watching Hiro's first therapy session from a different room. He was reluctant to be left alone at first, but Kogami promised to read more of his favorite book when it was over if he talked to the doctor.

"Do you really think that you can track down someone in his family that really and truly would want to take Hiro in?" Akane asked.

"I hope so." Kogami sighed, looking through Hiro's family history. "So far, the only people that I have been able to track down are his grandparents, and they are in assisted living."

"I wonder if we could get in to talk with them. Maybe they would be able to help us out."

"I'll look in to it if you want me to." The enforcer offered, writing something down.

"I think that will be good. What are their names?"

"Shosuke and Hana Fugaku."

"Fugaku…" Akane thought for a moment. "As in the company?"

"Company? What company?"

"Here, let me see." Akane said, taking his tablet from him.

She worked quickly to get the desired information, then turned it around so that Kogami could see.

"See? They make androids to help people and companies. From first aid bots to simple plumbing maintenance."

"That's it. That's the grandfather." Kogami pointed at the picture of the founder.

"Who is the current president?"

"Looks like… Fugaku Renjiro." Kogami said, scrolling down to a picture of a middle-aged man. "He looks like he's Hiro's uncle."

"Let's try talking with him first, then. I think we would have better luck with him than what we would with his grandparents."

"I'll go and set up an appointment, then." Kogami stood up to leave.

"Aren't you going to stay for the rest of Hiro's session.

"Just tell him that I had to use the can if he's done before I get back. I have something else that I need to check on."

—-

The next day, Akane and Kagari went to go and speak with Hiro's uncle. Ginoza thought it would be better not to take the boy, knowing that he would get his hopes up, so Kogami stayed behind at the Bureau with him.

"Man, I can't stand office exec types." The enforcer groaned. "They're so stiff and only care about money."

"I would say that you could wait outside, but that would get me in trouble, huh?" Akane joked.

"Pretty please? I promise to only run slow enough for you to catch me." He winked.

Akane smiled and shook her head. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to the Bureau. Come on."

Kagari and Akane walked in the huge glass building, and were greeted by an android that was directing people to the correct office.

"Identification please."

Akane and Kagari pulled out their official IDs and showed them to the bot.

"Inspector Tsunemori and Enforcer Kagari, here to see company president Fugaku."

"Authorized. Make your way to corridor C, office 1."

"This place is huge." Kagari said as they walked through the building.

"Well, they're the top android manufacturing company in all of Japan. What else do you expect?"

They reached the office that the android had instructed them and walked in.

"Ah. Hello detectives." President Fugaku greeted as they came in.

"Sorry if we're interrupting important work." Akane said, bowing to the man. "I am Inspector Tsunemori and this is Enforcer Kagari. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I am Fugaku Renjiro. The pleasure is all mine, Inspector." The man offered the two seats in front of his desk. "So what is it that I can do for the police?"

"It's regarding Ms. Konizuka Tatsuki."

The president frowned at the mention of her name.

"Our family cut ties with her long ago. If she is accusing us of something, it's-"

"She was murdered four days ago." Akane interrupted him.

"Oh…" The man looked a little surprised at the news. "Well, I can assure you that I knew nothing about it."

"It's still under investigation, so we are still looking for more information." The inspector explained. "But we're here in regards of her son, Hiro."

"I see… What about him?"

"Another enforcer and I have been caring for him since Ms. Konizuka's death. He was present when she was attacked." She told him. "It's temporary until we have successfully interviewed him about the night of his mother's murder. We will have no choice but to classify him as an orphan and send him to a children's home, unless…"

"Unless?"

"Mister Fugaku, Hiro has no family left on his mother's side, so please understand that we had no choice but to come to you at this time." Akane said. "As you can probably understand, he is very unstable and is having a hard time accepting her death. Like I said, I have been watching him for the last few days, and I believe that it's in his best interest for him to be taken in by someone in your family."

"You don't realize what you are asking, Inspector Tsunemori." The older man wiped sweat off of his forehead with his handkerchief.

"I know it's a lot to ask so suddenly after cutting Ms. Konizuka off for so long, but Hiro is such a bright child. I would hate to see him be classified as a latent criminal because of the stresses of being put in a children's home."

President Fugaku sighed and nodded is head after a few moments of silence.

"Okay. I'll speak with my family, but I can't make any promises."

Akane's face lit up. "Thank you so much, sir!"

"Like I said, I can't make any promises, so don't think me yet." He said as he and Akane shook hands.

"Here is my contact informations if you have any comments or concerns." Akane said, giving the man a card and a bright smile.

"I will be contacting you soon."

Akane and Kagari left the building after bidding farewell to the older man.

"That went easier than I would have thought." The enforcer said as they got in the car.

"Mister Kogami is going to feel so relieved!" Akane grinned as she turned on the vehicle.

She really did feel a huge weight lift from her shoulders. Things were starting to look up for the little boy.

—-

"Are you serious?" Kogami looked at Akane wide eyed.

"Yes! He said that he would speak with his family." She said with a big smile.

"And he seemed fine with it?"

"At first, he wasn't really sure."

"I think we should look in to their company, though." Kagari spoke up. "Something about the way he acted when we brought up Konizuka's name seemed off."

"Is that so?" Kogami frowned.

"Well, I think it was to be expected. It's been almost eight years since their family cut them off."

"No, I got this feeling about it." Kagari insisted.

"Okay." Kogami nodded. "What should we do, Inspector? It's your call."

Akane looked back and forth between the two men in front of her.

"Well… I guess we should look in to them before we let Hiro go." Akane slowly said.

"Alright, I'll get Kunizuka to help me dig up some dirt." Kagari nodded and walked away.

"Where is Hiro?"

"He's with Karanomori. She's administering a psycho-suppressant, hoping that will help clear up his psycho pass."

"I see… Has Ginoza said anything about locating the suspect of Ms. Konizuka's murder?"

"Nothing yet." Kogami sighed. "We have street scanners everywhere to keep an eye on the population, and it doesn't make sense how we can't find a knife-wielding psycho."

"We'll catch the criminal responsible for her death. I know we will."

Kogami looked down at Akane's determined face. She really cared about Hiro, and he knew that deep down, he did too.

But he didn't want to. He knew that it would be hard on them when the time came to let Hiro go, and the last thing he wanted was to see Akane cry.


	6. Chapter 6

How could one little device have to much power for her to stop her day? He should have contacted her already. What was taking so long?

Did the Fugaku family not want Hiro after all?

"You know, it's going to make waiting worse if you just keep staring at it."

"He should have called by now." Akane groaned.

"He's a busy man, Inspector. At least give him 24 hours."

"I told you to call me Akane."

"And I told you that you could call me Ko, but I haven't heard that now, have I?" The enforcer smirked.

The device started ringing.

Akane quickly grabbed it and answered.

"Hello, this is Inspector Tsunemori."

"Hello, Inspector." Company president Fugaku's voice came over the phone. "I am calling about my nephew."

"Have you and your family made a decision?"

"Not quite. See, I was hoping to invite you and his other caretaker to an event that my family is hosting."

"What kind of event?"

"It's a formal gathering. My whole family will be there, and a few of the company business partners." He explained. "I would like for you to attend so that we may talk some more about my nephew's arrangements."

Akane glanced over to Kogami. Hiro's other caretaker.

"And when you say formal… Just how formal?"

"Oh, I suppose you haven't been to a business event before, have you?"

"No sir, I'm afraid not." Akane nervously laughed.

"It's a suit and tie event. A classy dress for you shouldn't be a problem to get." The man told her.

"Okay." Akane nodded. "We'll be there."

The man gave her the date and time of the event and said that he would send a car to pick her and Kogami up at the Bureau. She hung up and looked up to her enforcer.

"What?"

"How do you feel about fancy dinners?"

—-

"I can't believe that you and Akane get to go out and have wine and party while we're going to be stuck here babysitting and doing work." Karanomori complained.

"It is for work." Kogami reminded her as he fixed his tie.

"And I'm not a baby!" Hiro protested.

"Yeah, yeah." Shion chuckled.

"Where is Inspector Tsunemori, anyway?" Kunizuka asked.

"Her friend came by and brought her a dress. I think she's changing right now."

The enforcer turned to his colleagues.

"So, how do I look?"

"I haven't seen a three piece suit on you since your inspector days." Ginoza raised his eyebrows.

"I can't let Inspector Tsunemori get the impression that I don't care about something this important."

"Are you going on a date?" Hiro wrinkled his nose at his own question. "She's a GIRL."

Kogami rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "It's not a date, Hiro. And I know Inspector Tsunemori is a girl."

"She sure is." Kagari gave a whistle.

Kogami turned around. His breath caught when he saw his superior.

She wore a one shoulder forest green gown that had a slit at the bottom. She had on gold heels, and Yuki had teased her hair and put in a matching gold hair ornament. She looked breathtaking.

"What?" Akane asked. Everyone had gotten quiet and was staring. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not at all." Kogami breathed out.

"Are you sure that I can't go in his place?" Kagari whined.

"Sorry, Kagari. Mister Fugaku requested Kogami specifically." Shion chuckled. "Now you two go on and have fun. We'll take care of your boy."

"Thank you." Akane bowed. "We'll try to not be too late."

"Take all the time you need~"

Akane felt awkward with the way Karanomori was speaking. It was almost as if her and Kogami were Hiro's parents, and they were going on a rare date.

She looked up to Kogami, who was offering her his arm.

"Are you ready, Inspector?"

Her heart skipped a beat when his scent invaded her space. She swallowed hard and took his arm and let him escort her to their waiting car.

—-

Kogami couldn't make eye contact with Akane the whole time they were in the car. He reached for a bottle of whiskey and poured himself a glass, hoping for it to help him loosen up.

He managed to down two glasses by the time they got to their destination.

It was a fancy hotel that the car stopped in front of.

When they made it inside, a man took them to a huge ballroom that was filled with many people in classy suits and dresses. All were business men and women of different major companies in Japan. It made the two detectives feel so out of place.

"Inspector Tsunemori." Company president Fugaku and a woman that looked to be his wife came to greet them. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Thank you for inviting us." Akane said with a bow. "This is the man that has helped most with taking care of Hiro. This is Enforcer Kogami Shinya."

"Hello." Kogami bowed to the couple.

"This is my wife, Fugaku Hina."

"It's a pleasure." The woman smiled.

"You said that you wanted to discuss what to do with your nephew. Is there anywhere you would like to talk?" Kogami asked.

"We will get to that when dinner is served." The president chuckled. "But right now, enjoy yourselves. Drink, dance and mingle to your heart's content."

"But sir-"

"No, I insist. There are still some people we need to go greet. We will sit together at dinner."

The couple left the two detectives staring after them.

"So would you like a glass of wine, Inspector?" Kogami asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure." She nervously nodded.

They walked over to the bar and put in their drink order with the automated system. Seconds later, their glasses were sitting in front of them.

They casually sipped on them for a while, watching the people interact.

Kogami chuckled when he noticed a few women watching them. They were obviously looking at him, and he could almost hear their words about his choice in a date to this event.

Akane had been watching them, too.

She looked down at her dress and shoes that she had gotten from Yuki. Was there something wrong with them? She was sure that Yuki knew what she was doing when she worked endlessly on her hair and make up.

Suddenly, Kogami turned to her and cupped her face with his hand. He moved his face close to hers and smiled when he saw her cheeks become red.

"Just stay still." He whispered.

Akane felt her face become hot because of her blood rushing underneath her skin and his breath mixing with it. She knew that with his back turned to the women like that, that it looked like he was kissing her.

After a few endless moments, he pulled back and smirked down at her flustered face. Akane looked behind him and noticed that the women had retreated to go and stalk a different target. To them, Kogami had made it plain who he was leaving with tonight.

"We couldn't have them hitting on a latent criminal, could we, Inspector?"

She gulped and shook her head fast. "Absolutely not."

She grabbed her wine and gulped it down, then ordered a couple of shots when Kogami wasn't looking.

What in the hell was he thinking?!

She quickly did away with the shots and pushed the glasses behind the counter before he turned around.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine." She nodded. "Just enjoying my wine."

"Kagari said you could hold your alcohol." Kogami smirked. "I guess you're proving him right."

Akane shyly nodded. "I guess so."

After a few minutes, Kogami pushed his glass aside and stood up straight.

"I don't think I can sit still much longer. Would you like to dance, Inspector?"

Akane stared at his hand that he was offering to her.

"I don't really know how."

"Let me lead."

Akane hesitated for a moment, then took his hand. "Just remember that I'm in heels tonight, Mister Kogami."

"I won't let you fall. Just trust me." He smirked and lead her to the dance floor.

It was a duet of a violin and a cello. Kogami listened closely to the music and lead Akane to the delicate melody.

The song almost mirrored their personalities. The violin was light but dominate, and the cello low and supporting.

She was amazed by how gentle Kogami's face was as he watched her. Usually it was so stern when he was on the field, but tonight it was as if they weren't an inspector or enforcer.

They were just Akane and Shinya.

And she liked that.

While it lasted, at least.

Around the time the song ended, and their dancing had ceased, Akane's communicator beeped.

"This is Inspector Tsunemori."

"Hey, have you talked with Fugaku yet?"

It was Kagari's voice.

"No, why?"

"I think we have a lead on who killed Hiro's mom. Someone in the Fugaku family has to be linked to it."

"What makes you so sure?" Akane asked, her heart sinking to her stomach in fear that the boy would have to go to a children's home after all.

"So get this, the whole time that their company has been in existence, it has been passed on to the oldest child of the next generation. Fugaku Shosuke and his wife only had two kids: Renjiro and Lee. The company went to Renjiro when his father stepped down five years ago."

"That's around the same time that Hiro's family was cut off." Kogami noted.

"Exactly." Kagari said.

"So what does that have to do with Tatsuki's murder?"

"Oh, I haven't even gotten to the good part." The enforcer chuckled. "Renjiro and his wife found out that they are unable to have kids, so his younger brother knew that the company would be passed down to his son. He told his father that unless he passed it on to him instead of his older brother, he was going to cut off ties with his family and they were never going to have access to his child."

"So Hiro's father was the one who cut them off?"

"Exactly. When his father refused to give the company over to him, he followed through with what he had promised to do."

"So why kill Konizuka Tatsuki?"

"When Lee committed suicide, Hiro's mother dove in to work as a system programmer for VaroTech, and she was a pretty damn good one too. According to her boss, she was already teaching Hiro a lot about basic robotic functions."

"Sounds like a prodigy in the making. Perfect skills for the future president of Fugaku Industries." Kogami put together.

"My thoughts exactly."

"So why not just ask Konizuka to reconcile?" Akane asked.

"It sounds like a pride thing to me." The enforcer next to her said. "I mean, Renjiro and his wife could have just adopted a child to carry on the line of presidents."

"But they didn't, because it's not the same as having someone with the same bloodline running the company."

Akane sighed. "Have you told Inspector Ginoza this information yet?"

"Not yet. I thought that you would like to know first."

"So what do you want to do, Inspector?" Kogami looked to her.

"Let Inspector Ginoza know that we will be bringing President Fugaku in immediately for questioning."

Akane ended the connection and looked down in defeat.

"We'll make sure that Hiro goes to a place where he belongs. Don't worry." Kogami reassured her.

"Come on." Akane said, grabbing Kogami by the hand. "We have work to do.


	7. Chapter 7

Akane sighed and took the gold ornament from her hair and slipped her heels off. Kogami told her that she could borrow his room to change.

They had been questioning Company President Fugaku for twelve hours now, and he still had not cracked.

He claimed to not know anything about Konizuka Tatsuki's murder or anything about an assassin. They were truly getting nowhere.

Akane slipped her dress off and let it fall to the floor. She saw the door to the bathroom and wondered if Kogami would mind if she took a quick shower to get the hairspray and make up off.

She decided that it couldn't hurt and shut herself inside.

The water felt great on her skin. She looked around, realizing that she didn't have any soap to wash with.

She looked down at the bottle of the Enforcer's shampoo and swallowed hard. It wouldn't be too weird to use some of his would it?

Akane opened it and squeezed a little out on her hand.

She started to massage the thick soap through her scalp, a blush forming when his scent enveloped her. She quickly washed it off of her and turned off the water.

Outside of the bathroom, Kogami entered his quarters. He was caught off guard when he saw Akane's dress and shoes in a pile on the floor, but remembered that he had offered her his room to change.

He shrugged his jacket off and unbuttoned his vest and lastly his shirt.

"These suits are a pain." He grumbled to himself.

He threw his clothes aside and walked to his bathroom. He opened the door and stopped in his tracks when he saw his superior standing naked in the middle of the small room.

They stood there, staring at each other for a few seconds before it registered what they were seeing.

"MISTER KOGAMI!" Akane shouted, covering herself quickly with the shower curtain.

"S-sorry!" He quickly ran out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

Akane's heart was pounding. He really just saw her naked! She covered her mouth when it registered that he was in his underwear when he came in. That didn't make things any better for her.

Why was he back? He was supposed to be with Hiro in Karanomori's lab.

The Inspector took a deep breath and put her clothing on. She came out of the bathroom, drying her hair with her towel. Kogami was sitting on his couch, his eyes avoiding her.

Both of their faces were pink from the embarrassment of what had happened only moments ago.

"Oi, Tsunemori." Kogami said, breaking the silence. "Sorry about walking in on you like that. I didn't know you were in there."

"It's my fault." Akane insisted. "I shouldn't have used your shower with out asking."

"It's not a big deal." He reassured her.

"Where is Hiro?"

"Karanomori's room. He fell asleep in the lab last night when Kagari was playing with him, so she took him there."

"Everyone has really accepted him, haven't they?"

"Yeah." Kogami nodded. "You especially."

"Well, he really has no one it seems. I feel really bad about it."

"Inspector, you really need to be careful about cases like this. It's going to be hard to let him go when the time comes."

"I know." Akane sighed.

The Inspector's communicator went off.

"This is Inspector Tsunemori."

"Hey, Akane. Hiro just woke up. He says he remembers something." Shion's voice came through the device.

Akane and Kogami looked at each other.

"We'll be right down."

"We?" She asked, with curiosity in her voice.

"I'm with Enforcer Kogami right now." Akane explained.

"So he closed on your date?" The analyst chuckled.

"I-it's nothing like that!"

"See you in a few~" She sang and then ended the call.

"We don't talk about what happened earlier." Akane said, looking at Kogami with a serious face.

"Agreed."

—-

"Hey, buddy." Kogami sat next to Hiro in the children's room. "Ms. Karanomori said that you're remembering stuff. Is that true?"

"Uhuh." The little boy nodded.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"I can draw it…"

"How about you explain to me while you draw?" Kogami offered.

"Okay."

Akane walked to where the art tools were kept and brought the boy some paper and crayons.

"Let's start from the beginning. Okay, Hiro?"

"Okay." He said, taking out a black color. He started to mark on the paper, making an obnoxiously huge woman, which they guessed to be his mother, and then another figure next to her, probably him.

"Mommy said that she wanted to take me to go eat pizza, cuz she had to work on my birthday."

"So, you were going to have lunch?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "She said that someone was waiting for us and that it was a surprise."

"Do you know who it was?" Kogami asked.

"Mommy said that it was our family."

"Okay." Akane said, writing what he was saying down. "What happened while you were going to eat?"

"I saw a nice man with a BIG baloon." Hiro said. "He wanted to give it to me, so I went to get it. Mommy ran after me, but the man got a knife."

"Is that the man who hurt your mommy?" Kogami asked, pointing to a third figure who had a balloon in his hand and a knife in the other.

Hiro picked up the red crayon and started to scribble on his drawing of his mother and nodded.

"Did he say anything to you?"

"He told me he was gonna take me to my Grandpa."

"Your Grandpa?"

"Yeah." He said, putting the crayon down and staring at the picture.

"Not your uncle?"

"No. My Grandpa."

Kogami and Akane looked at each other, almost as if they were reading the other's mind. They had been looking at the wrong Fugaku.

—-

"You think my father hired an assassin to kill Konizuka?" Renjiro asked. "That's absurd! The man is out of his mind!"

"But he still has access to the family's accounts." Ginoza said, putting a bank statement in front of him. "He took out a large sum about a week ago."

"There has to be another explanation for this." The man insisted. "He wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"President Fugaku, we know your wife is unable to have children." Akane said. "Could it be that your father did this to get Hiro back in to your family?"

"Absolutely not!" He shouted. "My brother is the one who cut contact, and after he died we reached out to Konizuka. She refused to speak to us, so we backed off. My father would not have forced Hiro in to our lives like this."

"Then do you have any other explanation?" Ginoza asked, folding his arms. "All of the pieces line up."

Fugaku Renjiro looked down at his cuffed wrists, looking uncertain about whatever he was thinking.

"Are you completely sure that he couldn't have done this?" Akane asked, getting him to look her in the eyes.

"I… Maybe he could have…" He sighed and looked back down. "I don't know anymore."

"We're going to have to bring your father in if you can't give us any more info." Ginoza said, standing up.

"You can't do that! He's an old man that is living in assisted care!"

"I'm sorry, but we have to if we're going to get any answers." Akane stood up as well.

Kogami, who was standing next to the door observing the whole time, opened it and let the Inspectors out.

"What do you think?" Akane looked up to the Enforcer.

"I think he's telling to truth."

"Did you get the kid's description of the attacker?"

"The only thing we got was that he was huge and old." Kogami sighed. "Not a great description."

"What do you suggest that we do?" Akane asked Ginoza.

"I'm going to take Kagari and Kunizuka to go and bring in the old man." He said, typing on his communicator. "We can't do much else until we question him."

"What do you want us to do?"

"Take Hiro back to your place and get some rest. All three of you. You've been up for over twenty four hours and you need your energy to take care of the kid."

"Are you sure?" Akane asked. "We can't leave you guys to do this all on your own, could we?"

"You're not." Ginoza glared. "You have a major responsibility taking care of the only eye witness of this murder. Now, do him a favor and take him back to get some sleep."

"He's right, Inspector." Kogami said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Okay." She nodded and let him lead her away.

—-

Kogami carried Hiro on his shoulders as they walked up to Akane's apartment.

"Can we read more of Max after we take naps?" The little boy asked.

"Of course." Akane said. "We have to finish it, don't we?"

"Yeah!" He cheered. "I wanna know what happens at the end! Big brother Ko, don't you?"

"Yup." Kogami nodded. Reading to the child had become one of his favorite evening activities.

Akane opened the door and let the Enforcer and Hiro in ahead of her.

She put her hand over her mouth as she yawned and shut the door. Maybe she was more tired than she thought.

"Why don't you go and share your bed with Hiro?" Kogami suggested. "You'll sleep better that way."

"No!" Hiro complained. "I don't want to share a bed with a girl."

"It's fine." Akane smiled. "You should share the bed with him. You need rest, too."

Kogami frowned down at the Inspector.

"Or we could all share it." She retorted, meaning it to sound like a joke.

"Fine." He flatly answered.

"What?" She stared at him in shock.

"Yeah, it's big enough." He smirked. "So why not?"

Akane started to protest, but Kogami had already left the room to go use the restroom, making sure that she couldn't get another word in.

A few moments later, Akane and Hiro laid on the bed, still waiting on Kogami to finish up.

"I know this is awkward." Akane said. "Sorry, Hiro."

They laid there in silence.

"Why do you smell like big brother Ko?" The child suddenly asked, looking up at her.

The Inspector's face turned red, remembering her shower earlier and how he had walked in on her. She realized that if Hiro could tell that she smelled like him, everyone else probably noticed as well.

"No reason." Akane tried to brush his question off.

"Do you two kiss?"

"No no no!" She answered.

"Do you want to?"

"You sure do ask a lot of questions, buddy." Kogami walked in to the room and got on the opposite side of Hiro from where Akane was.

"Miss Karanomori said you two went on a date. Are you in love?" He wrinkled his nose.

"Okay! Goodnight!" Akane quickly turned to her side, hiding her blushing face from the two other occupants of her bed.

Kogami chuckled. "Inspector Tsunemori is my boss. Nothing else. Now let's get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay."

Hiro immediately went to sleep, but the two adults had a hard time.

They both had their minds stuck on earlier events and couldn't shake how awkward it was to be sharing a bed. Even if there was a toddler in between them.


	8. Chapter 8

Because of the night before, Akane, Kogami and Hiro all slept the day away in Akane's bed. It wasn't until Akane's communicator went off that she and Kogami were woken. Having curled up against Akane while they slept, Hiro had restricted her movements, so she was unable to reach the small device. Kogami reached over the two and picked it up for her.

"Yo." He answered, the holo-screen flickering on.

"Where is Tsunemori?" Gino's voice came over the connection.

"Hiro has her restrained at the moment. What's up?"

"We've got the grandfather in for questioning. We need you two in right away."

"Alright, alright." Kogami said. "We'll be there as soon as we can."

Once they had woken Hiro and got to the Bureau, Akane and Kogami were taken to the interrogation room right away. When they walked in, there was a white-haired man in a wheelchair next to a nurse who had a tablet and was monitoring his vital signs.

"Good evening, detectives." The old man greeted with a smile. "I suppose that you are who we have been waiting for, yes?"

"I take it that you are Fugaku Shosuke." Akane said, taking her seat next to Ginoza.

"This is Inspector Tsunemori Akane and Enforcer Kogami Shinya." Ginoza introduced the two of them. "They are the ones that have been caring for your grandson."

"And I thank you for that." The old man said. "But surely we aren't here to just talk about my grandson."

"Not at all." Ginoza said, standing up and tapping on the monitor next to the table and pulling up pictures of Konizuka Tatsuki's murder scene. "We're here to talk about this woman. Your late son's wife."

"I don't see why." The old man leaned back in his chair. "My family has had nothing to do with her for five years now."

"That's why we didn't consider you to be responsible." Ginoza told him. "At first."

"At first?"

"We learned intriguing information about your family. For generations, your company has always had one of your blood family members at the head." Akane said, pulling up her own information on her tablet. "Your oldest son and his wife are unable to have Children. Once your youngest son found out this information, he said for you to pass the company on to him or he was going to cut ties with your family. You didn't take him seriously. Once you handed off the company to Renjiro, you realized how futile it would be to wait on a blood grandchild, so you took matters in to your own hands."

"Are you suggesting that I killed her?" The old man laughed. "As you can see, it is impossible. I can't stand up for more than two minutes, let alone stab a woman to death."

"That may be true, but you have a greater power than physical strength." Ginoza said, leaning over the table. "You have full access to your accounts, and plenty of contacts to get rid of people in your way."

"In fact, we pulled up one of those accounts and saw that you had taken out quite a large sum of money a few weeks ago." Akane turned her tablet for the man to see. "Now, my question is: What could an old man living in assisted living need that kind of money for?"

"Tsunemori, you haven't even brought up the phone records yet." Ginoza smirked. "Tell us about the call he received the night before Konuzuka's murder."

"You got a call around 8 PM on the 15th." Akane read from her tablet. "Thanks to technology, we got that whole conversation. Were you aware that the police could do that now?"

The old man wiped his forehead with a rag.

"Maybe we should play it." Akane suggested to her partner.

Kogami watched with interest as the two Inspectors interrogated the man. Akane was not going easy on him at all. She was truly upset with him for leaving Hiro as an orphan for his own selfish purposes. He had never seen her play bad cop before.

"Inspectors, please." The man scoffed. "You're being ridiculous."

Ginoza tapped on a sound file and voices began to sound over the speakers.

'I've got their schedule down.' A man's gruff voice said. 'Did you wire me my last payment?'

'I'm not a fool. You will get the remainder of your money once the job is done.'

'What about the police? Do you have the drug that will stable my psycho pass so that I'm not detected?'

'The delivery will be made tomorrow morning.'

'It better arrive this time, old man. If not, I'm killing the kid as well.'

'It will be there.'

The recording ended, and the two Inspectors looked across the table at the suspect.

"Our lab analyst has confirmed that your voice matches the one calling the shots on the phone call." Ginoza said. "Are you going to try denying it, now?"

"I-I…" The old man gave them a panicked look. "Just take a look at my psycho pass, if you don't believe me. Sibyl is judgment after all. Let the System judge me."

"The drug inhibitors automatically keep us from getting a clear psycho pass reading." Akane said. "We will be forced to detain you to make sure that the drugs are out of your system if you're not going to talk."

"I strongly advise against that." The nurse spoke up. "Mister Fugaku is in terrible health."

"We won't have to take those measures if he gives us the location of the hit man."

"Well, Mister Fugaku?" Akane crossed her arms over her chest. "What is your choice?"

"We have a nice cell waiting if that is what you choose."

The old man glared at them. "Fine."

Akane walked in to her empty apartment.

Fugaku Shosuke had given up the name and location of the hit man. Ginoza and his team had gone to go and bring him in, but ended up having to use the Eliminator on him.

Hiro was now safe, and things were being put in order for his adoption to his aunt and uncle. It was the first time in a while that she was alone.

She didn't really like it.

As the night went on, she decided that she missed the little boy running around with Kogami. It made her little apartment feel like a real home.

She walked in to her room after she got out of the shower and flopped on to her bed. She felt something hard underneath her, so she sat up and moved her sheets around.

Hiro had left his toy robot.

She looked around her room and saw just how much stuff in there wasn't hers anymore. She really needed to return Kogami and Hiro's things to them. She would be telling Hiro goodbye tomorrow when his uncle and aunt came to get the last of Konizuka Tatsuki's things that were left behind in her apartment.

She got up and dug in her closet to retrieve a bag to put things in. Her heart ached every time that she passed by the blue book in the living area. Kogami never finished reading it.

She sat down and opened it to the last spot where they left off. It was the final chapter.

Akane couldn't help but to identify with the feelings that Max had towards Fang. There was always this unspoken feeling—this clenching in her chest every time that she was around the Enforcer she had gotten to know so well over the last few days. She wasn't sure what it was, but like Max, she knew that she was going to have to address it at some point. Probably after this stuff with Hiro was over with.

It could have been only because she was so charmed by watching the way he interacted with the boy, after all.

It made her consider marriage and children for her own.

Sometimes with the Enforcer, which she knew was impossible because of his status. Also because there was no way that he could ever feel the same for her.

She shook her head and placed the book in the bag she had put Kogami and Hiro's things in. She would give this book to the little boy to remind him of how great of a caregiver Kogami was to him.

Akane sighed and leaned back on her couch.

She didn't even realize that tears were falling down her cheeks.

For the first time in a long while, the Inspector was feeling an emotion she wasn't all too familiar with.

Loneliness.

The next morning, Akane and Kogami were standing outside of the storage room that Konizuka Tatsuki's things were being kept. They were waiting on Hiro and his aunt and uncle to arrive so that they could move it out of the Bureau.

"I brought this stuff for you." Akane said, holding the bag up.

"Oh, thanks." The Enforcer took the bag and dug through it and brought out Hiro's robot.

"I don't think this is mine." He chuckled.

"Oh! Sorry. I mixed in his things in there as well by mistake."

"Don't worry about it, I can just carry my stuff." He started taking his things out of the bag.

"It's been really quiet without you two at my apartment." Akane admitted.

"I know what you mean. It was weird being back here last night."

There was a long silence.

"Tsunemori, I'm really sorry that you had to get emotionally involved in a case like this."

"No, I'm glad I did. Really." The Inspector forced a smile. "Hiro is going to a home that will love him. A place where he belongs. I am strong enough to admit that his place wasn't with us. I knew it was only a temporary thing until we got the information we needed and knew that he was going to be safe in the end."

"Yeah." Kogami nodded. "And besides. It won't be long until we get a new case so we can forget that this all happened."

She knew that he was joking, but Akane couldn't help but feel the sting in her chest at his words.

"O-oi. You don't need to make that face." He looked at her concerned.

"I can't help it. I'm soft." She said, looking down.

"No, you have a big heart, Inspector. There's a difference."

"What do you mean?"

"I learned a lot about you through this." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You are an amazing woman, Tsunemori."

Her cheeks heated up at his words. "Kogami…"

"I mean it." He looked at her with a serious face. "Don't let this get you down. The last thing that I wanted was to see you cry at the end of all of this. I wish that I could have protected you from this pain, but I can't."

Akane began to break down again. She wanted to kick herself. She was supposed to be done with the tears after she left her apartment that morning.

She was caught off guard when she felt lips press against her lips.

The Inspector opened her eyes wide, shocked by the Enforcer's sudden movements.

She dropped the bag that had Hiro's things in them and wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.

When they pulled back, they looked at each other with confusion, not knowing where these feelings had come from.

"Big brother Ko!" A little voice called from the end of the hallway.

Hiro ran over to the two detectives, causing them to push each other away. 

The little boy wrinkled his nose. "What were you two doing?"

"Ah—nothing." Kogami quickly answered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away from Akane. "Oh, look at what Inspector Tsunemori brought from her place."

He distracted the boy with the bag of things.

"Oh!" He grinned up at Akane and gave her a hug.

Akane's eyes widened in shook and she looked at Kogami. This was the first time that Hiro had ever shown affection towards her.

"Guess what! Uncle says that Tadashi gets to come and live with us, too!" The little boy squealed when he pulled back from Akane.

"Really? That's great, buddy." Kogami smiled down at him and ruffled his hair.

"And there's a big pool on the inside of my house! AND AN ELEVATOR!" He grinned. "Just like you, big brother Ko!"

Kogami chuckled. "But you're even luckier than I am, Hiro. We don't have a pool."

"That's okay." The boy said. "Maybe you can come and swim sometime."

"Maybe one of these days." The Enforcer nodded.

"So." Company President Fugaku cleared his throat. "Everything is in order, and the drones will be moving the rest of Hiro's things out to the truck outside."

"Good." Akane smiled down at the boy. "I'm so happy for you, Hiro."

He waved her down for her to get on his level.

"What is it, Hiro?"

He gave her another big hug. "Thank you for taking care of Baymax for me, big sister."

The Inspector smiled. "It was an honor, Hiro."

"Now I need you to take care of big brother Ko for me, okay?" He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "I think he likes you."

Akane's cheeks turned pink as she caught eyes with the curious Enforcer when she stood back up after giving the little boy one last hug.

"Okay, Hiro. It's time to go." Hiro's aunt called for him.

"Coming!" He grinned and ran to her and his uncle.

"You two are more than welcome to visit whenever you like." The man said to them. "Thank you for everything."

"No thanks necessary." Akane said.

"Yeah, it's all in our job description."

The two detectives watched as Hiro walked away hand in hand with his new family, feeling that they had made the boy's world a better place.

"Happy birthday, kid." Kogami said under his breath. "Be a good boy."


End file.
